Hattiesburg John Doe

Do you know this John Doe? On December 1st, 1998, a tragic incident occurred just north of Highway 49 on the ramp to I-59 in Hattiesburg. The victim, who was hitchhiking at the time, was struck by a drunk driver. Regrettably, the driver fled the scene, but was later apprehended. The victim managed to relay his name and origin to the responding paramedics before losing consciousness.

He said his name was Steve Hicks (possibly Hex) and was from West Virginia. Despite receiving medical attention, the victim’s condition worsened over time, and he eventually passed away in hospital on May 1st, 2002. The cause of death was determined to be complications resulting from the hit and run accident. The true identity of the man remains a mystery to this day.

Unidentified Bodies in USA

Every year, thousands of bodies turn up in the USA unidentified. No name, no clues... nothing. Nobody knows who these people once were or where they came from. The bodies found are often called John/Jane Does, since no other name can be attributed to them. But why does this happen?

There are several reasons why there are so many unidentified bodies found in the USA:

Overall, the reasons for unidentified bodies vary, but it is clear that improving identification methods and resources could help reduce the number of unidentified bodies in the USA.

Who was Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee?

On February 19th, 1971, two teenagers were hitchhiking on a highway overpass near Lake Panasoffkee in Florida. Below them in the lake, they were horrified to see the body of a woman floating in the water. She was wearing a green poncho and plaid pants and a belt had been wrapped around her neck, suggesting she had been strangled. The woman has remained unidentified ever since, but a few clues have emerged thanks to forensic technology.

By examining isotopes, scientists confirmed she had spent her childhood in Greece, and had lived near Athens until about a year before her murder. Investigators had a theory that the woman had travelled from Greece for an Epiphany celebration, perhaps welcomed by the large Greek-American population nearby in Tarpon Springs.

A forensic examination of her hair confirmed she had only been in Florida for about 2 months. As the case gained popularity, it was featured on a Greek crime show. Immediately, a woman came forward to say that she believed the Jane Doe was a girl she went to prep School with, called Konstantina. The school trained it's students to be domestic helpers, and after successfully completing their course they were sent to Australia or America as part of a two-year work contract.

This woman lost contact with Konstantina so couldn't provide many details on her, but she knew that Konstantina was sent to America at exactly the same time as the forensic testing indicated the victim had. Though it seems a strong lead, the case remains cold.

A John Doe who remained unidentified for over 60 years finally got his name back thanks to DNA technology.

On the evening of Monday, March 27th, 1961, a motorist picked up a hitchhiker around the area of Centreville, Alabama. The boy was young- between the ages of 15-18 and he walked with a limp. He had dark hair but parts of it had been bleached blonde. He mentioned to the driver he had run away from home after his parents’ divorce in North Carolina.

While the pair were driving across the Cahaba River, the car smashed into the guardrail and tumbled into the river below. The motorist was able to swim to safety and survive the accident, but tragically the young boy had broken his neck and drowned. Upon recovering his body, there was little to go on in terms of identifying him, however it was clear he was dearly loved and was religious. In his pocket, he carried a photo of himself and a girl of a similar age with the inscription: “Think of me always and remember how we used to go places together.”  Unusually, this photograph has never been released to the public and the identity of the girl has not been discussed. He also had the message “RY+ LOVE” carved into his left arm. 

For decades, the Bibb County John Doe has remained in the thoughts of locals and internet sleuths alike. Being unidentified for so long, it seemed unlikely that he’d ever get his name back as the likelihood that his relatives had all passed away became a depressing reality. With the hopes of new DNA technology, funds were raised and his body was exhumed in 2016 and DNA testing was performed in order to identify him. They used bone fragments to extract the DNA, but the process of linking it to any relatives proved difficult, and for over 4 more years nothing turned up. Finally, a breakthrough came after the DNA was sent to a different lab in California. The had found a match: A brother, now 77, who lives in Florida. When his brother ran away, he had been in the army and had always wondered what happened to him. He was “very emotional” to learn the truth about his sibling, who we now know was called Daniel Paul Armantrout, a 15-year-old from Tennessee who wanted to start afresh after life with his mother and stepfather became too much.

May Daniel rest in peace.

A bittersweet end to the Mostly Harmless case.

𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 - 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀? 

For the 3rd episode of Dead Strange, I'll be talking about a man with three names, but no true identity. Tune in tomorrow at 22:00 GMT to hear more about this baffling case.

Do you know this man?

Known only by his nicknames of Mostly Harmless or Denim, he was a long-distance hiker who was found dead in a tent in Big Cypress in Florida in July 2018. Collier County Sheriff’s Office has still not been able to identify him. He weighed only 83 lbs when he was found, and the cause of death was starvation. He interacted with multiple people on hiking trails from NY south and told fellow hikers was born in Baton Rouge and lived in Brooklyn, where he worked in the tech industry. He also told people he had a sister in South Florida. All of these pictures were taken by fellow hikers along the trails and turned into law enforcement. When found in the tent, he’d only been dead for a day or two. He had thousands of dollars and a small amount of food on him when he was found. He also a notebook, filled with authorities called “code” for computers or gaming. The notebook also contained code relating to the game Screeps. Some of the words in the notebook were “spawn,” creep" and “algae pond.” No tattoos. Slight scar on stomach. Near-perfect teeth: no dental work. He regularly ate at hostels, using the alias Ben Bilemy, a name that doesn’t appear in any records.